Here we are at the end of 2024. How was it for gaming for me?
Running Dungeon Fantasy
I GMed 13 sessions of DF Felltower this year.
Session 190, Felltower 128 - Exploring Level 1
Session 191, Felltower 129 - Troll Treasure & Orc Holes
Session 192, Felltower 130 - Down, down, down the GFS
Session 193, Felltower 131 - Olympus Gate II, Part I
Session 194, Felltower 131 - Olympus Gate II, Part II
Session 195, Felltower 131 - Olympus Gate II, Part III
Session 196, Felltower 132 - Wells, Pools, and Cultists of the Good God
Session 197, Felltower 133 - Chimera, Stone Bulls, and Baby Mira
Session 198, Brotherhood Complex 6 - Gnolls & Doors
Session 199, Brotherhood Complex 6 - Gnolls & Doors, Part II
Session 200, Brotherhood Complex 7
Session 201, Brotherhood Complex 8 - Raid, Part I
Session 202, Brotherhood Complex 8 - Raid, Part II - War of the Robots
This was good, but far less than the 20 I'd hoped for. In fact, this might be the lowest total we had any year since we started. I think it's because we now have a solid core of players, and instead of playing as often as we can, we play as often 75% of more of the core players can make a session. I'm giving some thought about to deal with this.
We lost a few players this year - well, one, and it's clear some of the others aren't coming back. Kevin left the group due to a difference in play style (I think.) I think I can pinpoint the moment it occured. It's okay - my game isn't for everyone, and I don't let players create problems for themselves (say, by trashing entrances to the dungeon so they're hard to use) and then solve them for them (by handwaving the "hard to use" part.) If that costs me players, it's okay. It's just a bummer because I think he left just before the PCs went off and did something he'd be have been terribly interested in.
I was pleased with a few things in-game this year:
- a return to Olympus. There is one more era left, now, and it's a doozy.
- an attempt to do things with the pools. Mostly wasted, but still, it was actual methodical exploration.
- a successful attempt to re-open ways into Felltower.
- the PCs finally found the domed city at the bottom of Felltower.
- a persistent attempt to wipe out the Brotherhood Complex's inhabitants.
Good stuff overall.
Playing RPGs
None. Not one session.
Other Games & Gaming
I was able to play some other games this year:
Board Games:
Third World War: Persian Gulf - I had a great time playing this one, but the randomized system I used for card selection left the Warsaw Pact (okay, USSR) with very little time to really seize the gulf. They ended up with a substantial, but unsustainable, advantage, before logistical breakdown left them in the lurch. A player-chosen diplomatic approach would have placed far more emphasis on getting forces into Iran early. Oh well.
Revolt on Antares - I didn't get to play but I did finally replace my set. I'll play this year.
Video games:
GTA 3: Vice City
Pathfinder: Kingmaker (Lawful Good Paladin aimed at getting the "best" ending)
Fantasy General (one battle left)
Grand Tactician: The American Civil War - played a short bit, I need to play more.
Not a great year for these games. I did get more done in Pathfinder, but as always I stall out in the complicated and not-terribly-fun phase-state House out of Time.
Writing
Almost none. My work-work got busy . . . I set myself a goal of +50% business for the year and met it. No time for writing with that going on.
Other stuff? No painting, although my readers (glasses) make it possible now. Lots of Felltower work. Some new gaming things I can enjoy to read and play with. But that's about it.
As years go for gaming . . . not bad, but not up to par. Next game is 1/12 and I hope to keep some kind of rhythm.
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Monday, December 30, 2024
GURPS Session 202 - More Notes & Rulings
Just a few rulings from last session.
Can you do a swing/impaling attack to the eyes? Probably yes according to the rules, but no, we've long ruled that you can't. The angle required is just too specific to make that work and it breaks my suspension of disbelief badly - especially because it's likely going to be spammed out turn after turn.
How do armor divisors stack? We take the highest level, and then stack from there. So [2] and [2] become [3]. [5] and [2] become [10]. Those are the two you'll mostly see - bodkins vs. chinks in armor, or our version of Lightning vs. chinks in armor. By the way, I don't love the clunky way the Chinks in Armor rules work, and the name is clunky, too. I'll post some ideas on Thursday.
Can Knights learn Fast-Draw on the fly, even mid-combat? No. Per DF11, p. 29, Knights have access to "Melee Weapon skill improvement whenever points are available – even in battle!" That's not the same as "new combat and combat-related skills even in combat." We've (generously) interpreted "improvement" to include learning something, but it has to be a Melee Weapon skill.
Can you do a swing/impaling attack to the eyes? Probably yes according to the rules, but no, we've long ruled that you can't. The angle required is just too specific to make that work and it breaks my suspension of disbelief badly - especially because it's likely going to be spammed out turn after turn.
How do armor divisors stack? We take the highest level, and then stack from there. So [2] and [2] become [3]. [5] and [2] become [10]. Those are the two you'll mostly see - bodkins vs. chinks in armor, or our version of Lightning vs. chinks in armor. By the way, I don't love the clunky way the Chinks in Armor rules work, and the name is clunky, too. I'll post some ideas on Thursday.
Can Knights learn Fast-Draw on the fly, even mid-combat? No. Per DF11, p. 29, Knights have access to "Melee Weapon skill improvement whenever points are available – even in battle!" That's not the same as "new combat and combat-related skills even in combat." We've (generously) interpreted "improvement" to include learning something, but it has to be a Melee Weapon skill.
Sunday, December 29, 2024
GURPS DF Session 202, Brotherhood Complex 8 - Raid, Part II - War of the Robots
Actual Date: 12/29/2024
Game Date: 12/12/2024
Weather: Cold, clear, dry.
Characters
Chop, human cleric (301 points)
Brother Quinn, human initiate (125 points)
Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (335 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (316 points)
Amlaric, human squire (125 points)
Persistance Montgomery (303 point knight)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (306 points)
Leon the Eye, human archer (125 points)
Aaron, Brandon, Cedric, Dortmund, Ernie, Ferd, Grunlark, and Hansel, human guards (62 points)
Bullworth and Oxford, human laborers (62 points)
Honest Charles LeGrand, human squire (125 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf martial artist (298 points)
We picked up where we left off - the PCs had retreated from the second level of the dungeon to the first level to regroup, and meet up with latecomers Percy and Duncan. The full crew assembled, they headed back in, looking for the robots they'd glimpsed the last time, hoping to stomp on the group of them and take whatever treasure they had, while using their hired goons to watch the door to the stairs in case the wizards came up from below to bother them.
Perhaps surprisingly, one of those things happened. The PCs went back to near where they'd unleashed the mold, moved forward, and spotted a mechanical knight - one of the robots.
They enagaged it as it moved up to attack them. Vlad pinged a few arrows off of it and into it, inflicting some damage but not disabling it. It was joined by three more identical robots. The mechanical knights are fast and well armored, but very noisy. Giving off hisses, clanks, and grinding metal noises, they charged the PCs.
In a close-in slugfest the PCs beat the robots down, but it took time - they bounced many attacks, blocked more, dodged many, and just refused to go down. The PCs tried mobility kills, but even taking out a leg left them pulling themselves along the floor in a seated position to attack. They couldn't be disarmed as their weapon and shield are built-in. The PCs tried chopping legs, arms, feet, smashing the head, piling up damage on the torso, and the occasional Lighting and Stone Missile spells, but it took time to put them down. Chop helped with Curse -1 on robot after robot. Honest Charlies held off Percy and Thor's flanks until he was badly wounded, healed, and then wounded again and knocked out. The PCs realized that maybe while they were "holding the line," so were the robots.
Just as the PCs were putting down the 3rd of the 4, more showed up . . . followed shortly by another 10-12 more. Leading the larger pack was a metallic woman with blonde hair, a red robe with a blue sash, and an orb and a wand. They recognized her from rumors heard before about an iron woman who was in charge, and most recognized her description as the infamous Iron Witch of Cornwood.
The PCs kept fighting as the enemy piled up close. Even after they'd put a couple down, they sat back up. Hannari spiked on with a Liquid Ice grenade and froze it pretty badly, after which it didn't seem inclined to get back up. Same with one that Thor decapitated. Otherwise, they generally kept fighting despite disabling-seeming strikes.
The Iron Witch attracted their attacks as soon as she showed up. Hannari tossed a Magebane grenade at her, and she just laughed after it detonated around her. Clearly, she didn't need to breathe and was thus immune. She put up a shimmering shield around herself. Vlad tested for Missile Shield with two arrows - which missed, of course. Duncan tossed a 14d Explosive Lighting into her hex at the floor, and she dove to the floor to get further from the impact point. She was stunned, but only briefly, and cast spells as soon as she was able to get back to position to do so - only a couple of seconds. She cast a couple of spells on Percy and Almaric but they resisted.
As the session drew to a close, Percy drew Agar's Wand and let it dance, the Iron Witch readied a Stone Missile, and the PCs braced for more battle.
Notes:
For those not keeping track, "Robot," often pronounced "Robut" in Cornwood, is Cornwoodian dialect for golem or construct. So naturally, a Cornwoodian Mechanical Knight is a robot. Amusingly, the players pretty much started to see them as tech-based, and tried lightning (to short out the wires), stabbing the heart (perhaps where the power comes from), looking on their backs for a switch, box, or other vulnerable point. I won't spoil it, but it's worth noting that while mechanical in nature, they're not high tech, they're magic and magic-based engineering. No one is going to pull wires and battery packs out of them. Also, shout out to Gort of the Shining Force, who also used to call golems robots.
MVP was Percy for at least 10 critical hits. He got at least 7 in the first 4-5 seconds of the fight, and only missed outright once. He was crit-fishing with a 16 net skill, but that doesn't explain why he was critting at well over the predicted 10%.
There was some discussion about sending Agar's Wand to attack the Iron Witch, but the sword is more defensive than offensive. It can't be sent like an attack dog, and besides, it will protect its owner and fight evil in that order, so "rush through a bunch of unaligned golems to try and kill a wizard while your wielder is getting mobbed" isn't likely. My ambivalence on giving out magic items with any kind of self-will is that this happens - people seem to assume or at least hope they're like super-PCs that do whatever a player would want. They never are.
Game Date: 12/12/2024
Weather: Cold, clear, dry.
Characters
Chop, human cleric (301 points)
Brother Quinn, human initiate (125 points)
Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (335 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (316 points)
Amlaric, human squire (125 points)
Persistance Montgomery (303 point knight)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (306 points)
Leon the Eye, human archer (125 points)
Aaron, Brandon, Cedric, Dortmund, Ernie, Ferd, Grunlark, and Hansel, human guards (62 points)
Bullworth and Oxford, human laborers (62 points)
Honest Charles LeGrand, human squire (125 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf martial artist (298 points)
We picked up where we left off - the PCs had retreated from the second level of the dungeon to the first level to regroup, and meet up with latecomers Percy and Duncan. The full crew assembled, they headed back in, looking for the robots they'd glimpsed the last time, hoping to stomp on the group of them and take whatever treasure they had, while using their hired goons to watch the door to the stairs in case the wizards came up from below to bother them.
Perhaps surprisingly, one of those things happened. The PCs went back to near where they'd unleashed the mold, moved forward, and spotted a mechanical knight - one of the robots.
They enagaged it as it moved up to attack them. Vlad pinged a few arrows off of it and into it, inflicting some damage but not disabling it. It was joined by three more identical robots. The mechanical knights are fast and well armored, but very noisy. Giving off hisses, clanks, and grinding metal noises, they charged the PCs.
In a close-in slugfest the PCs beat the robots down, but it took time - they bounced many attacks, blocked more, dodged many, and just refused to go down. The PCs tried mobility kills, but even taking out a leg left them pulling themselves along the floor in a seated position to attack. They couldn't be disarmed as their weapon and shield are built-in. The PCs tried chopping legs, arms, feet, smashing the head, piling up damage on the torso, and the occasional Lighting and Stone Missile spells, but it took time to put them down. Chop helped with Curse -1 on robot after robot. Honest Charlies held off Percy and Thor's flanks until he was badly wounded, healed, and then wounded again and knocked out. The PCs realized that maybe while they were "holding the line," so were the robots.
Just as the PCs were putting down the 3rd of the 4, more showed up . . . followed shortly by another 10-12 more. Leading the larger pack was a metallic woman with blonde hair, a red robe with a blue sash, and an orb and a wand. They recognized her from rumors heard before about an iron woman who was in charge, and most recognized her description as the infamous Iron Witch of Cornwood.
The PCs kept fighting as the enemy piled up close. Even after they'd put a couple down, they sat back up. Hannari spiked on with a Liquid Ice grenade and froze it pretty badly, after which it didn't seem inclined to get back up. Same with one that Thor decapitated. Otherwise, they generally kept fighting despite disabling-seeming strikes.
The Iron Witch attracted their attacks as soon as she showed up. Hannari tossed a Magebane grenade at her, and she just laughed after it detonated around her. Clearly, she didn't need to breathe and was thus immune. She put up a shimmering shield around herself. Vlad tested for Missile Shield with two arrows - which missed, of course. Duncan tossed a 14d Explosive Lighting into her hex at the floor, and she dove to the floor to get further from the impact point. She was stunned, but only briefly, and cast spells as soon as she was able to get back to position to do so - only a couple of seconds. She cast a couple of spells on Percy and Almaric but they resisted.
As the session drew to a close, Percy drew Agar's Wand and let it dance, the Iron Witch readied a Stone Missile, and the PCs braced for more battle.
Notes:
For those not keeping track, "Robot," often pronounced "Robut" in Cornwood, is Cornwoodian dialect for golem or construct. So naturally, a Cornwoodian Mechanical Knight is a robot. Amusingly, the players pretty much started to see them as tech-based, and tried lightning (to short out the wires), stabbing the heart (perhaps where the power comes from), looking on their backs for a switch, box, or other vulnerable point. I won't spoil it, but it's worth noting that while mechanical in nature, they're not high tech, they're magic and magic-based engineering. No one is going to pull wires and battery packs out of them. Also, shout out to Gort of the Shining Force, who also used to call golems robots.
MVP was Percy for at least 10 critical hits. He got at least 7 in the first 4-5 seconds of the fight, and only missed outright once. He was crit-fishing with a 16 net skill, but that doesn't explain why he was critting at well over the predicted 10%.
There was some discussion about sending Agar's Wand to attack the Iron Witch, but the sword is more defensive than offensive. It can't be sent like an attack dog, and besides, it will protect its owner and fight evil in that order, so "rush through a bunch of unaligned golems to try and kill a wizard while your wielder is getting mobbed" isn't likely. My ambivalence on giving out magic items with any kind of self-will is that this happens - people seem to assume or at least hope they're like super-PCs that do whatever a player would want. They never are.
Friday, December 27, 2024
Weekly Roundup 12/27/2024
Friday roundup.
- Does a game need something "heavy" to be sustainable? Interesting post and even more interesting comments.
The Fiction Becomes the System for Advancement; Or, Something Needs to be Heavy
- Yet another tiny buried rule - determining if your character is keen-eared in AD&D.
How to Read the AD&D Rules: Keen-eared individuals
If you want to check the rule at home, it's on pg. 60. So is the answer to the question posed in the post, too. Like surprise, this is one of those cases where a 1 is good, a 2 better, and a 3+ sucks. Freaking Gary Gygax, man.
- Game is Sunday. Last game of 2024!
- Does a game need something "heavy" to be sustainable? Interesting post and even more interesting comments.
The Fiction Becomes the System for Advancement; Or, Something Needs to be Heavy
- Yet another tiny buried rule - determining if your character is keen-eared in AD&D.
How to Read the AD&D Rules: Keen-eared individuals
If you want to check the rule at home, it's on pg. 60. So is the answer to the question posed in the post, too. Like surprise, this is one of those cases where a 1 is good, a 2 better, and a 3+ sucks. Freaking Gary Gygax, man.
- Game is Sunday. Last game of 2024!
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Monday, December 23, 2024
DragonDex: Dragon Magazine Index
Bookmarking these for my own use, and possibly yours:
DragonDex - Dragon Article List by Author
DragonDex - Fiction in Dragon by Author
DragonDex - Dragon Article List by Author
DragonDex - Fiction in Dragon by Author
Sunday, December 22, 2024
Felltower Work Today & Looking ahead to next session
Felltower
I spent today doing maps - not in the VTT, but on paper, for a few areas of Felltower and it's connected regions that I hadn't mapped out yet.
I also have a nice binder of graph paper that I am using to do small-scale maps I could potentially put in a VTT for when certain areas get explored. It's quite enjoyable, although I did realize I need a good L-ruler and small metal ruler, so I ordered those. Otherwise the artitecture templates I have from one of my players will do nicely for just about all mapping.
Brotherhood Complex
Next week the PCs will continue their delve into the Brotherhood complex, with the likely additions of Percy and Duncan. I figured I'd get a few potential questions out of the way with that.
More hirelings? Yes, Percy and Duncan can come with additional hirelings. They'll need to make the rolls themselves, bankroll it themselves, and otherwise equip them, if necessary. They can't have any retroactive help from the other PCs because they technically left after the others did, even if only shortly. I don't allow retroactive action in my games, with very few exceptions.
Extra consumables? Sure. They can bring whatever they want. If players want to order stuff on the sly through them and have them just happen to bring someone someone else suddenly realized they need . . . that's very meta, very lame, and very disappointing, but how would I know? I trust people to play the game they want.
XP for the full delve? Yes, everyone gets XP as if they participated from the beginning.
I spent today doing maps - not in the VTT, but on paper, for a few areas of Felltower and it's connected regions that I hadn't mapped out yet.
I also have a nice binder of graph paper that I am using to do small-scale maps I could potentially put in a VTT for when certain areas get explored. It's quite enjoyable, although I did realize I need a good L-ruler and small metal ruler, so I ordered those. Otherwise the artitecture templates I have from one of my players will do nicely for just about all mapping.
Brotherhood Complex
Next week the PCs will continue their delve into the Brotherhood complex, with the likely additions of Percy and Duncan. I figured I'd get a few potential questions out of the way with that.
More hirelings? Yes, Percy and Duncan can come with additional hirelings. They'll need to make the rolls themselves, bankroll it themselves, and otherwise equip them, if necessary. They can't have any retroactive help from the other PCs because they technically left after the others did, even if only shortly. I don't allow retroactive action in my games, with very few exceptions.
Extra consumables? Sure. They can bring whatever they want. If players want to order stuff on the sly through them and have them just happen to bring someone someone else suddenly realized they need . . . that's very meta, very lame, and very disappointing, but how would I know? I trust people to play the game they want.
XP for the full delve? Yes, everyone gets XP as if they participated from the beginning.
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